Summer School in Turkey – 2004

Twelve very enthusiastic and able volunteers, ranging in age from a mature 15 to a young 84, conducted a highly successful three-week English as a Foreign Language summer school program in Pleasant Hill's Sister City, Merzifon, Turkey. The co-directors of the summer school were Fadime Özen, chair of the English Department at Anadolu Lisesi, the accelerated high school in Merzifon, and Marty Schimbor, chair of the English Department and a Spanish teacher at Miramonte High School in Lafayette, California.

Although the American participants paid for their own airfare to Turkey and back, their stay in Merzifon was entirely expense free. During the summer school program, the teachers resided at the local "teachers' house," a hotel for school-affiliated groups. Meals, transportation, and supplies were all underwritten by the Mayor's office. The school itself was conducted in an historic, restored nine-room Ottoman home with a lovely courtyard. The students took three classes a day: EFL, arts and crafts, and sports and PE.

The city fathers, residents, and students of Pleasant Hill's sister city greeted the Americans very warmly and gratefully. The volunteers were hosted in many Turkish homes, and they visited numerous businesses and tourist sites. They spent their weekends at the gorgeous city of Amasya, at a nearby fascinating and very historic Hittite site, at outlying villages, and, of course, at Merzifon's Pleasant Hill Park.

The project was so successful that the Merzifon community insists the school be repeated next year. If you would like to volunteer for such a project in Turkey next summer, please contact Friends of Merzifon's founder, John Blake, at (925) 944-5475.